


Don't Let Me Let You Go

by fabricdragon



Series: Someone To Watch Over Me [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Sentinel, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, BAMF Pepper Potts, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Guide Tony Stark, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past, Polyamory, Sentinel Clint Barton, Sentinel/Guide, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Sexuality, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:30:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8941933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabricdragon/pseuds/fabricdragon
Summary: one very extraordinary archer... a man who can hit a target firing sideways, without looking: who can locate a target by sound, or motion...Clint Barton is a Sentinel: Coulson was his bonded Guide.except Coulson is dead....And Tony Stark?! is his new Guide?  Oh, yeah, and none of the Avengers except Natasha even knew Sentinels and Guides existed, so now they have to figure this all out.





	1. Don't Let Me Let You Go

Clint woke up slowly, senses coming online. 

Touch: warm, lying on someone, arms around their leg‑not Coulson‑under a partial blanket; someone lying across one of his legs‑Natasha. He was on an absurdly comfortable mattress, and it must be huge. He had a bandage on one arm, from an IV.  It must be from S.H.I.E.L.D.; it felt like their adhesive.

Hearing: Natasha breathing, her heartbeat steady, resting but not asleep. Whoever this was he was lying on was awake, making little touchscreen noises, and tapping… they must be using a computer pad.  Their heartbeat sounded wrong‑ that wasn’t good‑ and there was an odd humming sound. Captain Rogers was talking to Doctor Banner at a distance, but there were no walls in between them‑ this room must be huge.

Smell: coffee, thank God.  And some really odd food smells, sort of smelled Thai?  Probably Doctor Banner made something; it wasn’t anything he knew.  They all smelled clean, if worried.  Whoever he was lying on smelled… like stress, and worry, and protectiveness, and aggression… and… oil? Metal? Electricity? And his nose was almost in their crotch‑and normally that smelled awful, but for some reason it didn’t.

A hand reached down and rubbed into his hair absently, and he realized what his other sense had been trying to tell him: this was his Guide.

But it wasn’t Coulson.

He jerked fully awake and turned his head to look up.

“Morning.” Tony looked down at him with a quirked smile and a raised eyebrow.

“You… Oh, Holy Shit, that HAPPENED?”

Natasha’s voice from somewhere near his ankle. “Yes.  I don’t understand it myself.”

Clint tried to get up, hampered somewhat by his arms refusing to unlock from around Tony’s leg.

“Woah! Woah there, Legolas.” Tony reached down and rubbed the back of his neck, and Clint collapsed into Tony’s Boxers.…. Um…yeah, even a non-Sentinel could tell this guy was turned on, and _… damn, why do Guides always smell good?_   Clint knew from experience that most Guides smelled… better… than non-Guides, but HIS Guide smelled like sex, comfort, and safe.  He was fighting the urge to do something really, really embarrassing.  Clint realized he was still face planted into Tony’s crotch and rolled off of him.  That left one arm under Tony’s leg, but it was an improvement.

Bruce had come over with a plate of food; Tony smirked and put the plate on  his lap.

“Jesus, Tony!”

He laughed and  held the plate out.

“Uh, I can’t… let go yet.”

Tony  handed the plate back to Bruce. “Hey Brucie-bear? Snuggums?  My giant green rage monster?”

Bruce laughed, “Cut it out, Tony.”

“Hold that plate for a second?”

“Sure.” Bruce stood there looking really amused.

Tony sat further up on the pillows. “So? Sit up and lean against me.”

Clint carefully slid himself up until he was lying  up against Tony’s side.  Natasha slid up  and sat cross ways to him, with her legs touching his in a familiar comfort.

“Natasha, tell me what happened?”

“She can tell you while you eat.” Tony snorted.  “C’mere, Bruce, you can lie down on my other arm, that way I can’t do any work.”  He was trying to sound annoyed, but he just sounded faintly amused. “Hey, Rogers, are you like going to miss out on this mission brief? Get on the mattress.”

Clint snorted, and he saw Natasha actually grin.

“Uh… Mission briefs don’t normally involve stripping nude on a… What size is that mattress anyway? It’s a lot bigger than a King.”

“That’s why YOU had to move it, Rogers; and it was custom.”

Clint looked around and realized they were in a big, empty room, like it had been a conference room or a hotel… yeah, and there was a kitchenette… and then this huge mattress and all the pillows in the world just lying on the floor. Also, Clint was the only one actually nude- everyone else had at least underwear on.

“Where are we?”

“Conference / Hotel room, in Stark Tower; one of the highest floors with intact windows.  The mattress got dragged down from my bedroom, courtesy of Captain America there,” Tony said, thumbing over.

“Which brings us back to the ‘Get over here and be part of the mission briefing, Captain’ part of this conversation.  You can keep your clothes on, just lose the shoes.”

Rogers shook his head slowly, and took his shoes off, finally sitting cross legged on the far edge of the mattress, which was… pretty far away, actually.

“You… are a GUIDE?” Clint finally managed to ask, which was kind of stupid because he obviously was.

“Barton‑Clint‑ let me explain something: I never heard of Sentinels, or Guides, or any of this until yesterday when I went to get you.  I’ve been doing some research, but it’s been kind of hampered by trying to find some way for you to rest without pinning my arms to my side; also, you drool.”

“I do not!”

Natasha smirked and betrayed him, “Yes, you do.” Then she carefully reached over and bumped his shoulder. “I was afraid for you.”

Clint shivered; he remembered some of the overload. “I was… afraid for me.  I never found any Guides that could really…” Then the fact that Coulson was gone hit him again and he collapsed.

Somehow, he ended up with his head up against Stark’s‑Tony’s‑ neck. Breathing in the smell of him seemed to help.  Tony had an arm around him, but he wasn’t saying anything.  Eventually, Clint pulled himself together.

“Coffee?” Tony asked.

“Hell, yes; if the answer to that is ever no, just shoot me.”

“Oh, thank God, I was worried we’d be incompatible…” Tony grinned.

 


	2. I know I make mistakes and I can let you down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> discussions and explanations, but... are they correct?

Clint wasn’t used to this many people being this close to him, but… His Guide…”Uh, Tony?  Just so you know, most Sentinels get kind of freaked about people being too close, or touching them.”

Tony looked sort of blank. “I let Natasha sleep on you because‑“

“That’s DIFFERENT. I can pick her heartbeat out of a crowded party.” Clint sighed and started eating, leaning into Tony for contact. “You don’t understand.”

“Nope.”

“So… I’m guessing you didn’t know you were a Guide?”

“Nope,” said Tony, looking amused over his coffee, with Bruce’s head leaning against his other shoulder. 

Clint thought about that. “This is weird.”

“Definitely,” Captain Rogers sighed.

“I mean, shouldn’t I be freaking out that anyone else is touching my Guide?” He glanced at Natasha, who frowned.

“Yes, actually, you should.  You just bonded, you should‑“

Tony shook his head, “No. No one gets jealous in my bed, got that?”

“It’s not jealousy, Tony.” Clint couldn’t figure it out, he should be…”Look, Bruce?” Bruce nodded. “Bruce is fine, I’m not jealous, but… Sentinels get crazy possessive over their Guides, especially right after the bond.  I know Natasha like she was part of me, so… having her get close should be ok, I guess… maybe.  But, Bruce is… touching you, and I should be trying to get you away from him, except all I feel is vaguely uneasy.”

“But you are bonded?” Natasha asked him.

“Oh, hell yes,” Clint nodded.  He’d worked with Guides before, and it was totally different with Phil‑ he knew what it felt like.

Tony shrugged. “Well, from the limited amount of research I have here, it says Guides help settle your emotions?”

“Yeah.”

“I want Bruce here. You want me to be happy, so…”

Clint shrugged. “Like this is anything I normally worried about?  Just… trying to fill you in.”

“Right,” Tony said. “So, from what I have Coulson… Agent… Phil, was your Guide?”

Clint nodded.

“And everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to think that ‘everyone loved Phil’ except I never did‑ I sort of tolerated him because Pepper liked him.”

Clint stared at him, “How could you not like PHIL?”

Tony sighed, “I get the feeling telling you why I didn’t get along with a guy that my… that Pepper is still sobbing over, and that you are still hurting over, isn’t the best way to get started, ok?  I don’t have a huge amount of tact to work with, so let’s move on.”

Steve said, “The Doctor thought it might be a territoriality thing, with two Guides.”

Clint stared at him. “You’d have to be close to Phil’s power level, wouldn’t you?”

“Like I know?” Tony arched an eyebrow at him. “Look, can you just tell me what YOU think the basics are?”

“Right, right. Shit, it’s been years since I had to try to explain this.” Clint sighed.

Tony pulled Clint’s head back into his neck; Clint breathed in the smell of him and relaxed.

After a short while, Tony said, “Legolas? At the risk of you losing your elvish figure, I still think you need food.” Clint snorted.

 Eventually everyone had bags and bowls of snack foods; there were drinks‑ “Don’t spill on my bed!” Tony yelped; and Clint got started.

“So, Sentinels are rare.  We… we usually happen in like, low power, so maybe they aren’t all that rare, but you don’t notice?  And a lot of times those stories about people who lose a sense and their other senses ramp up like crazy are probably Sentinels who compensated.

“But Sentinels who have noticeable abilities don’t happen that often.  Guides, though? Common as hell.”

“Then why haven’t I heard about it?” Tony frowned.

“Most Guides are what S.H.I.E.L.D. would call Level 1 through maybe 3.  The FACT that they are all over is why the Sentinels don’t self-destruct.  There’s almost always a Guide in any group, even at low power.” Clint fidgeted, “They smell nice, to us.  And they’re… soothing? Calming to be around.  So if you don’t have any reason for a low level Sentinel to  even use most of their abilities, and they’re surrounded by low level Guides, or maybe bonded to one, then that Sentinel will never be even noticed. They’ll never even know they are one.”

Bruce looked thoughtful, and popped a handful of dried fruit in his mouth, “Then what advantage do they have?”

“Nowadays?  Not so much.  We tend to get tagged as ADHD, Autistic, or just weird‑ if people even notice we exist at all‑ but low level Sentinels, with Guides around? Well, they don’t have issues.”

Bruce shook his head, “No, I mean most abilities like that have an advantage… some reason they help you survive.”

“What I got told was that way back, when you had to worry about big things with claws trying to eat you, we were tribal protectors.” Bruce nodded. “Then later, well, you’ve seen what I can do, and a lot of us end up doing tracking, stealth, advanced scouts.  I can literally follow someone across a forest by scent, although I’m better at other senses.”

Steve nodded, “So that’s why most of you end up in combat.”

“Yeah. We also tend to be protective, and… to be honest that can be a problem.” Clint’s mouth twisted down. “I don’t like talking about it.”

“In for a penny…” Tony shrugged.

“Yeah, well, we not only have issues with scented detergents, or clothes that have the wrong texture, and all that, but we tend to get possessive and defensive.  I was told that’s from the whole ‘protector of the tribe’ shit, but… What it means is that a lot of us can get violent‑ or at least really annoying‑ when anyone else gets too close to our stuff, or our people.”

Tony laughed, “That sounds more like me, Clint.  No one touches my stuff.”

“Yeah, if… if I had thought you were anything, I would have assumed Sentinel, but you know most people aren’t either one.”

Tony sighed, “Well, most of the papers I’ve found so far on the topic are listed as Sociology or Psychology, so… not real science.”

Natasha looked amused, “Not real science?”

“If you can’t put it in math, or test it with an experiment, it’s not science, it’s an opinion,” Tony said firmly.

Clint smirked, “Oh yeah, I can’t WAIT for you to meet some of the S.H.I.E.L.D.  SG wranglers.”

“The what?”

“Sentinel and Guide liaisons and handlers.  I do okay with a few of the doctors, and I like the lawyer team, but otherwise they’re officious assholes.”  Clint sighed, “And even if nothing else had happened I’d be off duty until they verified a new bond, and it was stable, and all that.”

“Yeah, no,” Tony said firmly. “Ok, lawyers I understand; I can even deal with them‑mostly.  If you have a lawyer who understands this, call them, get them out here.  Otherwise? Apparently there are some recognized experts in the field; I’ll see how many of them jump through what hoops for research budget.”  Tony shrugged. “We have a lot of clean up in the city, and you’re on medical leave anyway. Doctor Merona seemed to be ok; I’ll have her come down and do the medical side of things here.  Besides, I really don’t want you leaving the tower.” Tony frowned, “I don’t know why.”

Bruce spoke up, “The papers actually said that was more usual: that a newly bonded pair usually spends a honeymoon period alone, someplace that has familiar smells, or smells mostly like the couple.  It supposedly leads to a more stable bond.”

Clint snorted, “I met Phil when he replaced the mission handler.  I had a Guide, who wasn’t cutting it anyway; Phil came in as the mission handler, and BAM.” Clint smiled. “We had twenty minutes to panic and for me to try to rub his scent all over me, and then we had to bug out.  We spent the next week surrounded by gunfire, mud, and really awful food smells.” He shook his head and looked pained, “Anyway, it never hurt our bond.”

Tony shrugged, “But it might explain why I want to keep you right up against me?”

“Well, it’s why I want to kind of rub you all over me like catnip, yeah.”

Rogers flushed and muttered something about privacy.

Tony grinned. “Tell you what, Clint. Let me make sure you won’t faint or anything from lack of food, and we can discuss it. Until then? I say we order pizza.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the idea that if you can't test it in a lab, or put it in mathematics, its NOT SCIENCE is... hardly unique to Tony.


	3. don't always find the words to say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper knows everything. I will listen to Pepper. Pepper is god.  
> (with apologies to Ivanova and Babylon 5)

Pepper Potts came in at about the same time the food was delivered.

“Pepper!” Tony’s whole face lit up and he started to move toward her‑then he stopped as if he’d hit the end of his leash when he slipped out of contact with Clint.  He backed up and grabbed Clint’s arm ‑this was somewhat awkward, since Clint was trying to pull on a pair of sweatpants that Tony had loaned him.

Pepper stared at the no longer quite naked Clint, Bruce in a pair of sweat pants, Natasha in her uniform‑albeit unzipped a good bit more than combat would call for‑ and Captain America in most of his uniform, but no shoes.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tony, have you corrupted the Avengers already?”

“Uh… not yet?”

She looked pointedly at the bed.

“I can explain?”

She looked at Natasha, and then at Clint, and then arched an eyebrow at Tony.

“Okay, it will take a while to explain.” Tony seemed to be shrinking slightly. Clint was marveling at the display of non-verbal communication.

Pepper took a deep breath and let it out, and her public relations face settled firmly in place. “Hi, I’m Virginia Potts, please call me Pepper.  I run the company, and try to chase after Tony enough to keep him aimed in the right direction.  Please let me know if he’s caused any trouble?”

Natasha looked at her thoughtfully. “Pepper, did he ask you to help him blackmail S.H.I.E.L.D. over the nuclear missile?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know WHY?”

“No.”

Natasha looked utterly confused, “Then why did you‑“

“When you’ve been dealing with Tony as long as I have, Ms. Rushman‑if that’s your name‑ you learn to pick your battles. Since they were clearly in the wrong, I agreed to help.” She looked back at Tony. “So what did I help you blackmail out of them?

“Clint… Him,” Tony said, waving Clint’s wrist. “They were being idiots, and we had to save him.”

“I see. You needed to blackmail S.H.I.E.L.D. with the video of a nuclear warhead so you could get a naked man.” She looked Clint up and down thoughtfully. “While I admit you’ve done stranger things, Tony‑“

“What?!” Steve yelped.

“Seconded,” Natasha said.

“‑I think you could have gotten him a bit more cheaply.” She looked at Clint thoughtfully. “You do understand that he can’t actually buy you, and you don’t have to sleep with him.”

Tony just winced and muttered, “It’s not like that.”

“It isn’t like that, Ma’am,” Clint said hesitantly.  “Really, it isn’t. You’ve probably never heard of the‑“

“Never say that,” Tony hissed.

Pepper raised an eyebrow at Clint.  “Try me.”

“Pepper knows everything,” Tony hissed at Clint. “Especially if you ever say ‘you wouldn’t know about it’; then she knows all about it, trust me.”

Natasha’s head was swiveling back and forth.

 “Try me,” Pepper said, folding her arms and staring at Clint.

“It’s apparently all sociology and stuff,” Tony said rapidly.

“What is?” she said dubiously.

“Apparently,” Tony said, clearing his throat.“There are these talents called Sentinels and‑“

Pepper’s mouth dropped open.

“You’ve heard of it?” Clint asked.

“Phil talked to me about it.”

“Agent,” Said Tony suspiciously, “talked to YOU, but not to ME, about this stuff I never heard of before.”

“He wanted me tested for Sentinel talent,”  she said, looking at Clint, and then at Tony.

“You’re… a Sentinel?” she asked Tony.

“Apparently no, I’m a Guide?  Clint here is the Sentinel… He was bonded to Phil,” he finished quietly.

Pepper winced. “I… I see.  My condolences.  I was a friend of Phil’s.”

Clint took a deep breath, “Thank you. Did… Did Phil tell you about how Guides and Sentinels interact?”

She smiled tiredly. “Not much.  I’m apparently a low level, IF at all, and he said it would mean fewer problems.”

Tony handed her a plate full of pizza. She nodded and took it. Steve got her a chair.

“Tony? Is a Guide? Like Phil… was.” Pepper’s voice shook on the word “was” and Tony grabbed her hand‑which somewhat handcuffed him, since he still wouldn’t let go of Clint.

“Apparently?” Tony answered. “Clint got very sick, and without Agent… uh, Phil… to help… anyway, we had to rescue him, and they said I’m a Guide, or something.” Tony frowned, and slowly let go of Pepper’s hand. “The papers on the topic suck.”

“Phil left me some contacts.  He said that the military, and S.H.I.E.L.D., had some very firm, and probably incorrect, ideas.  He wanted me to talk to someone else.”

“What?” Clint said in disbelief. “Phil was IN S.H.I.E.L.D., he was one of their best!”

Pepper smiled tiredly. Tony tried to feed her more pizza.

“I should have known,” She said slowly. “Phil said feeding people when they’re hurt or upset was instinct in a Guide.”

Everyone suddenly remembered Tony producing snacks apparently out of nowhere on the helicarrrier. Bruce coughed.

Pepper looked at Clint after a while, “Clint?  Just because Phil was in S.H.I.E.L.D., and loved it, doesn’t mean he was blind to their faults.  What he told me is that the military‑ including S.H.I.E.L.D. and several other groups‑ kept trying to quantify and number something that they didn’t really understand.  Phil told me that he felt it ended up being far too black and white.  I believe he was working to change that  from the inside, but he wanted me seen by people outside the military… “

Tony nodded. “Then can you call them, Pep?  Please?”

Pepper nodded and looked at her watch. “Given how late it is here, it’s still early in the day on the West Coast.”

She scrolled through her phone contacts and dialed.  Clint fought the urge to demand she repeat every word Phil ever said to her.

“Doctor Sandburg?  My name is Virginia Potts.  Phil Coulson gave me your number.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i posted this early because i didn't want to leave you without the opposing viewpoint to chapter 2... also yes, that is Dr. Sandburg from The Sentinel... AU remember?


	4. I may get jealous and a little insecure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> new plans, and new information

“I’m sorry to have to tell you, Dr. Sandburg, that Phil Coulson was killed in the‑“

Clint heard the man on the phone gasp, and the man in the room behind him swear and say, “Ask about his Sentinel.”

Dr. Sandburg said into the phone, “Ms. Potts, Phil had a… partner‑“

Clint spoke up, startling everyone on his end. “I’m here. Your Sentinel is there; please put the phones on speaker? There are a lot of normal ears in the room.”

A lot of the Avengers were asking and babbling “what?” and “how do you” and Clint whined and clapped his hands over his ears.

Pepper had put the phone on speaker and a voice said, “I’m Jim Ellison.  You must be Clint Barton.”

Tony moved up behind Clint and wrapped his arms around him, and Clint settled.

Pepper said, “Yes, yes he is, and… Dr. Sandburg, Phil had wanted me tested for low level Sentinel talent‑ he said S.H.I.E.L.D. had a narrow view of it‑“

“‑they do, and please call me Blair; I get the impression this is going to be off the books.”

“Yes, probably,” Pepper nodded. “What he never mentioned was that apparently Tony is a Guide, and... umm…”

Clint sighed, “MY  Guide.”

Jim Ellison’s older, rougher voice said, “Well, that explains why you aren’t dead.”

“I was under… mind control… when Phil died.” Clint sounded shaky and Tony pulled him back down onto the bed and tried to feed him dried blueberries. “Tony, honest to god I can’t eat anything right‑“ he was cut off as Tony spooned something absolutely heavenly into his mouth. “Except that, I’ll eat that.”

“Gelato,” Tony said firmly.

Ellison snickered, “Oh hell yeah, he’s a Guide.”

“Yeah, apparently,” Tony said, “Hi, I’m Tony Stark.”

“Wait, THE Tony Stark?”

“Yup.”

“You’re a GUIDE?”  That sounded like both of them.

“As I keep explaining, I didn’t know either existed until yesterday.”

Bruce spoke up, “Dr. Merona said he must be fairly powerful, and suggested he didn’t like Phil because of competition?”

“You didn’t like PHIL?” Ellison sounded stunned.

Blair snickered, “Oh, I believe that.”

Clint stared at the phone, “YOU didn’t like Phil?”

“I liked Phil fine,” Blair said calmly, “on the phone, or email, or skype.  In person, I started trying to get him the hell away from my Sentinel.”

“What level ARE you?”

“Oh not THAT again,” Ellison groaned.

Blair touched Ellison’s arm, Clint could hear the rustle of fabric. “S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the military ranking, from what Phil told us‑ we don’t.  I have no idea what number anyone would assign me as a Guide.  When the FBI tried to assign a number to Jim he was a 6 Sentinel.”

Clint whistled softly.

“That’s high, I take it? Since Clint was an 8?” Tony asked.

There was a long pause on the other side of the line.

Jim finally cleared his throat. “Did you say 8?  I think that may be a record.”

Clint sighed, “Yeah, it is.  Highest on record that was actually tested, as opposed to assigned numbers to historical figures and stuff.”

Blair was tapping his fingers.  It sounded like he had long fingers, too. “The numbers are benchmarks at best, really. How territorial are you, Clint?”

“Not very.”

“That’s‑“

“Weird, I know.  Usually I only got nasty over people getting to close to Phil.” Clint started to shake and Tony pulled him around into a really awkward cuddle.

“Um... They’re being really… huggy… right now,” Steve said. “Hi, I’m Steve Rogers.  We seriously knew nothing about this, except for the people who worked with Clint, until Tony went…” He paused. “Until Tony was very emphatic about getting him out of S.H.I.E.L.D. medical.”

Natasha said calmly, “He was dying in overload.”

Ellison said something that sounded like swearing, only no one knew the language.

“Guide?” Ellison asked.

“Uh, you mean me, right?” asked Tony.

“Yes.  Can you get to Cascade?  I don’t do well traveling that far from my territory.  If you two aren’t locked down to a territory, it might be easier for you to come here.”

Blair nodded‑ Clint could hear him‑ and said, “We could meet at one of the hotels; it wouldn’t smell that much like us.”

“Smell?” Bruce asked.

“Sentinels and Guides work on smell, a lot,” Blair said, “It’s why Phil got on my nerves in person: he smelled like competition.”

“I thought Guides didn’t have extraordinary senses?” Clint asked, glancing at Natasha in confusion.

“We… It’s complicated,” Blair sighed. “We don’t have them like you do; it’s a subconscious sense.  My research says it’s probably pheromones or something similar, and scent based, since when I had a bad cold, and Phil came through town, he didn’t bother me as much.” He paused slightly. “Wintergreen salve under my nose caused Phil to be almost unnoticeable, but of course you can imagine that Jim hated it.”

Clint laughed, “Oh, Geez.”

“Can…”  Tony paused, and frowned. “I have a question, but it sounds like no one has any hard science backing any of this up.”

Blair said calmly, “There isn’t any. Anyone who says there is? is engaging in wish fulfillment.  There are too few Sentinels and Guides to do any controlled testing.”

“Ok, so you actually do understand scientific method.”

“Yes, I do; so does Jim. We work with it when we can, but honestly?  It’s not technology‑it’s HUMAN.  There’s a lot that doesn’t fit in a box.”

Tony grinned. “Ok, so in your OPINION…”

“Yeah?” Blair grinned back; you could hear it in his voice.

“How many of the team are Sentinels and how many people can I be a Guide for? Because Clint says he should be touchy about people touching me…”

Ellison said, “You just bonded? He should deck anyone touching you.”

Tony shrugged. “The only person not within arm’s reach of me right now is also the only person officially listed on some paper somewhere as another Guide.”

Blair started babbling questions at him.  Several of the Avengers laughed when Ellison clapped a hand over his mouth and said into the phone, “Sorry, bad connection, has an anthropologist on the line; we’ll talk more in person. See you in Cascade.”

Pepper looked up when the line went dead. “I have the hotel booked, and the flight plan logged. I suggest we get going before it occurs to S.H.I.E.L.D. to stop you.”

Tony nodded at the rest of the Avengers who were looking a bit stunned at Pepper.

“Pepper is always right,” Tony nodded.

“You will listen to Pepper,” Pepper smirked.

“Pepper is God?” Bruce asked with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

“Goes without saying,” grinned Tony.

Two hours later they were on a QuinJet, flying West.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, i know, i quote Babylon 5 a lot


	5. I may get drunk and let love bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seriously, do NOT mess with Pepper.

They were halfway across the country when Nick Fury called Tony’s cell phone.

“Hey, Nick, what’s up?”

Clint tuned his hearing to the phone, not difficult since he was right next to Tony.  Fury was calling from his office‑ he recognized the sounds: his coffee cup was being put down, mostly empty, on some paper files.

“You were supposed to be taking Clint Barton back to your tower, Stark.”

“I did. We were there,” Tony said casually rubbing his fingers in Clint’s hair.  _Tony was WAY more tactile than Phil._

“You are not there.” Fury slammed his hand down on the desk; Clint flinched.

“Well no, not now.” Tony sounded so innocently confused, it was hysterical. “I never said we would stay there forever.” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

“I expected you to stay there for at least a few DAYS, Stark.” 

Clint knew you couldn’t actually hear a migraine, but…

“Well, you could have said something‑ how was I to know?”  Tony put a plaintive confusion in his voice and grinned at everyone in the jet.

Bruce just shook his head, grinning back at him. Rogers was flying the QuinJet, and Clint could hear him stifling a snicker.

“Put Rogers on the line,” Fury growled.

“Oh, Gosh, sorry, no can do.” Tony   smiled viciously, “Here, talk to Pepper.”  He handed the phone to Pepper and went back to rubbing into Clint’s hair, and neck.  Clint wanted to purr.

“Hello, Director Fury. Lovely day isn’t it?”

“We have S.H.I.E.L.D. specialists scheduled to arrive at the tower later today to meet with‑“

“Oooh, how terrible!” Pepper said, looking at her nails. “Somehow that wasn’t on my schedule.  You did get that appointment on my schedule didn’t you? You know how awful Tony is at managing it.”

Natasha was looking at Pepper with a sort of increasing unease.

“They didn’t have an appointment, Ms. Potts, this entire –“

“Oh, well, that explains it. We have an appointment in the calendar already; I’m sorry, if you had just called ahead, I might have been able to reschedule it.”

“This is much more important than whatever you have scheduled!”

“Really? How do you know?” Pepper smiled sweetly at the phone.

“Because this is S.H.I.E.L.D. business and‑“

“The appointment is Avengers business, Director Fury, as well as Stark industries business, AND my personal business‑ all three of which outrank that.  Next time, make an appointment, please?” She hung up, but not before Clint heard a coffee mug break.  He’d always wondered why there was a coffee stain on that part of the rug in Fury’s office.

Natasha said quietly, “How long did you know I was a spy?”

Pepper smiled at her rather sharply. “From when we hired you.  We just didn’t know who you were a spy FOR.”

Clint blinked and looked at Natasha. “Uh, ok, I’ll bite‑“

“You better not,” Tony grinned.

Clint elbowed him lightly and muttered, “Jerk… But seriously, if you knew, why did you hire her?”

Pepper shrugged, “Every single high level PA that Stark Industries has ever hired, that didn’t quit within a month, was originally sent to spy from someone.”  She frowned, “Ok, except for Marty’s PA… she’s just insane.”

Tony nodded. “Basically, any time we hire from outside, as opposed to promoting from inside?  The applicant pool is somewhere between 40% and 70% spies, either from other companies, the government, or whoever.  We just hire the best and then find out whether they can stand it.”

Natasha stared at him, “And if they CAN stand it?”

“Then we have to find out who they work for, and if we can pry them loose.” Tony shrugged.

Pepper smiled politely down at her StarkPad, “Speaking of which, since I assume we’ve chased off Danielle, I have to set up interviews for a new PA.”

“Bummer,” Tony sighed. “Maybe this time they’ll send some cute guys for you?”

“One can hope,” Pepper agreed, politely.

“Were you going to try to recruit me?” Natasha asked, staring uneasily at Pepper and Tony. Clint felt like he should be more alarmed, but all he really wanted to do was get Tony to keep rubbing further down his back‑ _oh good, he was._

Bruce moved closer to Tony’s other arm and Tony started rubbing into his hair, too. Bruce settled into him with a sigh. Clint glanced at him dubiously, but… moving was bad.

Pepper looked up at Natasha and then glanced at Tony.  She mouthed, “Should we?”

“I read lips,” Natasha said. “Should we what?”

“Tell you.” Tony shrugged. “People don’t usually like answers, really.”

“I prefer to know.”

Pepper bit her lip, “Well, actually… your behavior was  rather alarming.”

“What was alarming about it?”

“The way you interacted with Tony, actually.  It implied a VERY good honey trap operation, and by someone who knew he would want someone intelligent and competent, not just good looking.”

Natasha blinked at her, “I never‑“

“It was the hard to get, but not impossible, act.” Tony shrugged. “It implied you were there to get at ME, not just Stark Industries… which, after a fashion, was true.  We just underestimated you.”  Tony got tense and angry at Natasha and Clint moved without thinking between them.

“What?” Tony blinked.

“Clint?” Natasha was confused.

“Err… sorry… can… Nat?”

“Yes.”

“Can you… can you back up?”  Clint felt a headache coming on, “No, that’s not right. You aren’t a threat.  Damn.”

Pepper was looking at the entire exchange in fascination, to the point of putting down her stylus. Steve had turned his seat around‑ autopilot did most of the work at this point.

Natasha’s eyes tracked from Clint to Tony.  She put her hands up and out toward him. “I’m no threat to your Guide, Clint.”

“Yeah.” Clint looked at Bruce. “Switch seats with me?”

Bruce did, and Clint sat back down, now between Natasha and Tony.

Tony was staring at this. “Can you tell me what the heck just happened?”

“You got tense, you felt threatened, I had an irrational desire to find the threat and do something‑ except the ‘threat’ was Nat, and… I can’t.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t finish this conversation,” Tony said thoughtfully.

“No, I’m ok.  Can you go back to rubbing my back or something?”

Tony snaked an arm around Clint and pulled him in. “I don’t think you two will like the answers.”

Natasha simply repeated, “I would prefer to know.”

“Apparently there’s a lot I wasn’t told?” Steve asked.

“Ditto,” Bruce nodded.

Tony sighed, “Natasha, under the name Natalie Rushman, was hired as Pepper’s PA‑ Personal Assistant, like a personal secretary and assistant manager.  That ended when she attacked me‑“

“What?” Bruce leaned around Tony and Clint saw his eyes flickering a rather odd shade of green.

“Hey, there, Brucie-Bear,” Tony’s voice soothed. “It turned out to be a treatment for the heavy metal poisoning that was killing me, because Fury is an asshole and couldn’t just, you know, talk to me.”

Pepper sighed and looked up briefly from her work, “I suppose its fortunate for Ms. Rushman that Tony had been lying to me about how ill he was.  I put it down to his drinking too much.”

“Why is that lucky for me?” Natasha asked.

“Because I would have had you killed before then, if I hadn’t been distracted,” Pepper said as she continued to work on her computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why anyone forgets that Tony Stark has been subject to kidnappings, threats and spying since ... ever... i don't know


	6. I’ll  be hoping you stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter before they arrive in Cascade

Clint stared at Pepper.  Her heart rate was steady, her breathing within normal for working on an annoying email as far as he could tell, her pulse hadn’t jumped… Clint looked back at Natasha and gave her the slow nod of “Not lying”.

“Is assassinating people something you would normally consider?”

“Only if there is a direct threat,” Pepper said calmly.

Tony nodded, “Otherwise, we just either fire them, or hand them bad intel until their bosses take care of it.” He frowned at Clint and Natasha. “You two are worried; why are you worried?”

Clint STARED at him. _Nope, not a clue._ “You honestly don’t see why we might be concerned?”  He hated how his voice raised at the end of that; it made him sound bad.

Steve cleared his throat, “That’s definitely not on the ‘hero’ side of things, Tony.”

Tony started laughing, “Have you SEEN my psych profile?  Natasha probably has her copy.  I am not a hero, Spangles:  I am a Tony Stark.  As to the rest of it?  You knew my father.”

Steve frowned, “Yes, so?”

“One of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.?  The people who SENT the assassin to my company?” He waved  the hand wrapped around Clint at Natasha.

Bruce twisted to face him, “Your father founded S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“Co-founded, along with Aunt Peggy.”

Steve snapped his head up. “AUNT Peggy?”

“Well, not my biological aunt…” He trailed off. _Right, Nicky boy and his damned need to know shit._ “Steve, I’m sorry they didn’t give you a real briefing.” He took a deep breath.  Clint HEARD his lungs fail to fill, and the heart beat wobble, and found himself plastered on Tony.

“What?” Tony said startled, and brought his hand down into Clint’s hair.

Clint was shaking. _I can’t lose him, too. I can’t._

“Clint?” Tony was talking...

“Clint?” Natasha’s voice.

Clint couldn’t hear them– not really– all he was listening to was the uneven heartbeat, and the hum he now knew was the Arc reactor.  He was focusing on it; all the other senses fell away except the sound and feeling of his Guide’s heartbeat.

Tony looked panicked up at Natasha.

“Damn.  He’s lost in a focus on something.” She looked at Tony. “This is where Coulson normally snapped him out of it.”

Tony tried talking to him again, but it didn’t help.  He shrugged, pulled Clint’s head up‑eyes open and blank‑ and kissed him.  For a beat there was no response, then Clint inhaled sharply and kissed him back.

_Taste, smell, sex, pleasure, want. Guide_.  Clint came back to himself deep in a kiss with… Tony.

Clint pulled back and looked at his Guide in alarm. “What?”

Tony smirked down at him, “It’s called kissing: it’s fun, you should do it more.”

Clint tried to push away but… his Guide had his arm around him and Clint didn’t want to let go, not really.

Natasha’s voice, very dry, “Well that’s a bit different than Coulson’s methods, but it worked.”

“Oh. Oh, did I get…?”

“Yes, I don’t know what triggered it.”

Clint looked down, “Tony, just HOW bad is your heart?”

Tony looked startled, “Huh?”

Pepper looked up sharply. “Tony?”

Tony realized that everyone was looking at him, and looked back at Clint. “Right, you said you could pick Natasha’s heartbeat out of a crowd– mine must sound really weird.”

“Yes.”

Pepper snapped at Tony, “Do I need to call that cardiologist again?”

Tony sighed, “Jarvis? Give Pepper the report.”

Jarvis’ voice came from Tony’s phone, and Pepper’s pad.  “Mr. Stark’s medical condition is within his usual parameters for the last 30 days, allowing for the incident in the combat where‑“

“Enough,” Tony said firmly.  No need to remind everyone about him technically dying.

“Who was THAT?” Steve asked.

Clint was frowning. “That was an artificial voice.”

Natasha looked at him, “It was?”

“A really, really good one, but yes.”

Tony pulled Clint back in and went back to rubbing his hair. “Man that Sentinel stuff is scary sometimes, with the hearing and the phone calls.” He looked over at Pepper, “Hey Pep? We need to identify any Sentinels that have slipped in– didn’t know they could eavesdrop on our phone calls without a bug!”

Pepper’s eyes opened suddenly. “Oh sh-“ She  nodded, “I hadn’t realized what ‘enhanced senses’ meant. Of course, you’re right, Tony.”

Tony looked around at everyone while Pepper made notes. “Yes, Jarvis is an artificial Intelligence.  By the way if any of that gets back to Fury I will drop you out of a Quinjet.”

He looked firmly at everyone until he saw nods all around.

“Jarvis helps run my suits, and is… basically my PA? Not so much for Stark Industries, but for Iron Man, and for me.  He can help with SI, too.” He frowned, “After the Palladium, and Coulson hacking through my security, and finding out about Ms. Rushman… well, I started making plans to upgrade his security capabilities.”  Tony sighed, “Wasn’t counting on all this.”

Bruce nodded, “If he’s in your suits, then he can monitor your life signs.”

“He monitors them all the time.” Tony tapped at his Padd and held up his watch.

Bruce frowned and looked at Clint.  Their eyes met and Clint didn’t need enhanced anything to see Bruce thinking the same thing he was.  _Tony was an idiot, but he was THEIR idiot, and they needed him._

“How bad is ‘within usual parameters for the last 30 days’, Tony?” Bruce asked him, pushing himself slightly away to sit up straighter.

“You’re not that kind of a doctor, remember?” Tony smirked.

“How bad?” asked Steve.

Tony put his head back against the head rest. “I’m stable.  As long as I have the Arc reactor functioning, I’m stable. And before you ask, I know stable isn’t great‑ It’s what I have.”

Clint looked at him. “It inhibits your breathing, doesn’t it?”

“Yup.  Having a tube of metal stuck in the middle of your chest does tend to do that.”

“How deep does that go?” Steve asked, suddenly thinking about it.  He flushed, realizing he’d been thinking of it as a surface thing.  He’d seen combat, and knew more than he ever wanted to about the inside of a human chest.

Pepper holds up a hand and waved to a point near the base of her thumb. “The core goes in that deep, the rest of it of course goes in a bit more.”

She looked at them staring at her.  “I had to help him do a repair once. It takes a slim hand.” Her voice was steady enough to normal ears‑Clint could hear her better.  He pictured the times he’d had his hand in people, trying to keep them from bleeding out. He glanced at Natasha, who was thinking the same‑ or maybe about knife depths, you could never tell with her.

Somehow, they were very quiet the rest of the trip to Cascade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not getting this up sooner, we have had some incidents at my house.

**Author's Note:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQbAU7j2erg  
> "Don't let Me Let You Go" by Jamie Lawson (the Lyrics and song, the video not so much)


End file.
